Anil BaijalNEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal on Friday approved a notification to declare 95 villages as development areas of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) under the land pooling policy.

In a tweet on Friday, Baijal said, "Approved notification of 95 villages as development areas of DDA. Push for affordable housing, social & physical infrastr. needs of Delhi."

Baijal in May this year also notified 89 out of the 95 rural villages in and around Delhi as urban areas.

The land pooling policy, which is set to expand the urban limits of Delhi, was notified by the ministry of urban development (MoUD) in September 2013 while the regulations for operationalisation of the policy were approved in May 2015 by the ministry.

However, the policy was stuck over a few demands by the Delhi government on getting 10% of the pooled land to develop hospitals, schools, etc.

The policy is estimated to unlock around 20,000-25,000 hectares of land across Delhi, primarily in the urban villages and smaller towns at the city’s peripheries.

This would result in creation of around 2.9 million homes for economically weaker section (EWS), with an average size of 30 square meter, according to rating agency ICRA.

According to the policy, individuals or a group of land owners living in villages located on the outskirts of Delhi can pool their land and hand it over to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which will develop basic public infrastructure like roads, before returning a substantial portion back to the owner.

The land owners offering between 2 to 20 hectares of land for development will receive 48% of their land back, and those who are giving away 20 hectares of their land would get 60% of their pooled land back once the development is completed.

The remaining land would become DDA's property and will come under the Master Plan 2021.

After the pooling exercise, the land owners can bring in real estate developers to come up with affordable residential properties.

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